Alco HO DL-109 diesel Life-Like’s Proto 1000 HO DL-109 is a good model of a distinctive and historic diesel locomotive. It combines a dimensionally and proportionally accurate body with a smooth-running, powerful mechanism. The American Locomotive Co. (Alco) built the prototypes as 2,000-hp, dual-engine units for passenger service. Their memorable appearance is due to a […]
By 1919, a three-orange logo had replaced the single piece of fruit that adorned the covers of Golden State travel booklets. The lavish title page of a 1902 Rock Island route guide to its new cross-country passenger train, the Golden State Limited. Rock Island and Southern Pacific inaugurated the train on November 2, 1902. “Every […]
Athearn HO Bombardier bi-level commuter passenger car Athearn has released ready-to-run HO scale models of Bombardier’s bi-level commuter passenger cars. The models include interiors, magnetic knuckle couplers, working diaphragms, and metal wheels. They’re sold in decorated three-car sets of two coaches and a cab car, which is another coach but with a control compartment for […]
Kato N scale Amtrak Superliner passenger cars Kato has introduced sets of all five types of Amtrak’s Superliner I passenger cars to accompany the firm’s Genesis locomotives (reviewed last month). These models are based on the original group of 284 Superliner cars built in 1979. The prototypes of these bi-level cars were built by Pullman-Standard […]
A helicopter view of the westbound City of San Francisco buried in snow on Donner Pass. Doug Wornom collection Sixty years ago, on January 13, 1952, the streamlined transcontinental passenger train City of San Francisco encountered a raging blizzard with 90-mph wind gusts and snow drifts 8 to 12 feet deep that marooned the train […]
The end of the 19th century marked the beginning of a conservation movement in America. Naturalists and environmentalists lobbied the United States government to set aside vast areas of wilderness in the American West as national parks. Growing public awareness and support for the idea prompted Congress to pass the National Park Service Act, which […]
In the Fall 2001 issue of Classic Trains magazine, Senior Editor Dave Ingles recounts his train trip to and from Denver in May 1967. His detailed notes of train consists and time-keeping of arrivals and departures are presented here. May 11, 1967 IC #21, Green Diamond, Springfield, Ill.-St. LouisIC 4023 E8AIC 4109 E9B CofG 812 […]
Today you can ride across the United States aboard long-distance Amtrak trains such as the Lake Shore Limited, Silver Star, California Zephyr, or Texas Eagle. The dining cars serve tasty, regional cuisine and the double-deck Sightseer Lounge cars offer a superb platform for viewing America. However, 30 years ago passenger trains in the United States […]
Note: Most trains grouped in pairs. Prior to November 14, 1971, Amtrak did not assign its own train numbers, instead using numbers assigned by the individual freight railroads operating its trains. 101, 104 – Metroliner – New York-Washington (Ex. Sun.)103, 100 – Metroliner – New York-Washington (Ex. Sat. and Sun.)105, 106 – Metroliner – New […]
Enjoying a meal on board a moving train is an experience that is as popular today as it was in the late 1800s when the first dining cars were introduced on passenger trains. The singular combination of mouth-watering food, good company, and ever-changing scenery remains a selling point of long-distance train travel. “Settle down in […]
